A large column of smoke visible from several points of Ibiza (also from Dalt Vila) set off the alarms this Wednesday afternoon: the first major forest fire of the season on the island started in the kilometer 6 of the road of Sant Josep, in the area of es Coll des Vent of the town of Sant Josep.
A person who was in the area alerted the Park, which moments later also received a call from the 112 emergency service alerting of the fire.
A team formed by five firefighters moved, at first, with a Heavy Rural Pump (BRP) to extinguish the flames.
Upon arrival, when the emergency corps personnel verified the magnitude of the fire, they notified the Insular Park so that another crew could go to the area with the firefighters another heavy vehicle and a pump.
At 19.30 hours, a total of eleven firefighters intervened at es Coll des Vent after a third vehicle moved there with a light vehicle to support the personnel.
The fire was upgraded to a level 1 fire, as reported by the Institut Balear de la Natura ( Ibanat ) in their social networks, as several houses located in the forest area are in close proximity.
Activated the Ibanat helicopter
Brigaders of the Ibanat fourteen in totaland three environmental agents, acted with two fire engines. The Ibanat helicopter, which was activated from the base in Mallorca, collected water from the surrounding pools throughout the afternoon to suffocate the flames, according to information from the conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y Medi Natural del Balearic Government.
The Sant Josep Local Policealso moved with three patrols to the site of the fire, reported for its part the City Council of Sant Josep. The Civil Guard and several members of Civil Protection gave, on the other hand, support to the patrols.
Gallery: Images of the first fire of the season /
A house evicted
Six people, including three minorsof one of the houses located in the area of the forest fire had to be evacuated evacuated as a precautionthe Government details. The rest of the citizens who also live around, about fifty in totalwere able to remain in their homes.
The evicted people could not stay overnight in the house. All the troops who were intervening in the area of the fire continued at night with the extinguishing work.
At 20.40 hoursthe fire was declared a level 0 potential severity, meaning that it no longer posed a risk to people. The flames, at 21 hoursthe fire was almost completely extinguished, but, according to the municipality’s Consistory, the fire was still active.
The fire was given by stabilized at 21.30 hours after affecting about 0.9 hectares of pine forestas reported by Ibanat on its X account.
A photo of the fire taken from Dalt Vila / E.R
Traffic jams at the intersection of sa Caleta
La mobilization of law enforcement and emergency services in the area caused traffic jams on the road to Sant Josep in the afternoon and evening of Wednesday. Especially at the intersection located on the road to turn towards sa Caleta.
Firefighters and Ibanat, on the other hand, were organized in shifts to continue acting during the early hours of the morning. Several members of the Parque Insular who were not working had to go to the facilities in case they had to be activated as reinforcement.
Although it is still unknown when the fire will be completely extinguished, the Government estimates that it will be this Thursday when the work will be finished.